Mark Paslawsky

"Franko" (c. 1950-20 August 2014) was an American volunteer in the Donbas Battalion of the Ukrainian Army. A cheerful man in his 60's, he was of Ukrainian descent and headed to Ukraine to assist in the defeat of the rebels in the Donbass War. He was prominently featured in a VICE News interview which detailed his life and experience in the war. On 20 August 2014, he was unfortunately killed by artillery strikes in Ilovaisk by rebels and Russian mercenaries.

Biography
"Franko" was from the eastern seaboard of the United States, and was of Ukrainian ancestry. After the February 2014 Ukrainian Revolution and the Donbas War's breakout shortly after, he headed to Ukraine to enlist in the Donbas Battalion, a volunteer unit of the government forces that fought against Russian mercenaries and Kremlin-backed guerrillas. He took on the codename "Franko" after the Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko, and fought for the Donbas Battalion in Ilovaisk in August. While trying to free the town of Iloviask, he was killed by artillery fire, the first foreign casualty on the Ukrainian side.